The Angels made an out-of-the-blue change atop baseball operations. Los Angeles has fired general manager Perry Minasian and hired longtime Cardinals GM John Mozeliak as their interim general manager.

Mozeliak’s official title is baseball operations consultant. He’ll take over daily roster maintenance in the short term but is apparently not under consideration for a full-time position. The club announced that Mozeliak is being brought in to “(refine) a baseball operations strategy and (assist) the organization in its search for a new general manager.” They didn’t specify how long they expect that search to last.

Minasian is out after a five-plus year run as general manager. Team president Molly Jolly released a statement in the team’s press release. “Perry has been a valued leader who has worked tirelessly over the last six years to strengthen our baseball operations department,” Jolly said. “I am grateful for his dedication, insight and many contributions to our organization.”

The Halos hired Minasian over the 2020-21 offseason. They’d made the playoffs just once in the previous 11 seasons and were halfway through their window of club control over Shohei Ohtani. Minasian took over a roster with two of the best players in MLB but sorely lacking from a depth perspective without much in the minor league pipeline. It was more of the same during his front office hierarchy, which was characterized by a continued inability to put a capable supporting around Ohtani (for three seasons) and Mike Trout.

More to come.